Spring suspension mechanism for vehicles



June 1935- H. c. WEAVER 2,005,513

SPRING SUSPENSION MECHANISM FOR VEHICLES Filed April 21, 1934 I INVENTQR.

HAERYC. LUEA veg ATTORNEYS.

Patented June 18, 1935 SPRING SUSPENSION MECHANISM FOR VEHICLES Harry Weaver, San Gabriel, Calif assignor of one-half to David Grattan, Los Angeles, Calif. 7

Application April 21, 1934, Serial No. 721,775

,6 Claims. (Cl. 267-20) This invention relates generallyto vehicles arms of the lever ll so as to pivotally connect and more particularly to mechanismsfor spring the levers at one end. I mounting the bodies of vehicles in ofder to cush- The free end of the lever I0 is pivotally conion and absorb road shocks. ,nected to a, bracket, l pivotally mounted upon 5 An object of this invention is to provide a the rear axle housing N5 of the vehicle adjacent novel mechanism which in its association with a wheel I! of the latter, as clearly shown in a vehicle, such as an automobile, efiectively Figure 2. I i cushions road shocks in a manner to prevent the The free and corresponding end of the lever transmission of such shocks to the body of the H is. movably connected to the chassis frame vehicle while maintaining the body substantially F by a universal connector l8 having pivot pins 10 level, irrespective of variations'in the road surl9 and disposed at right angles to each other face, as well as tending to eliminate side jolt of and respectively passing through the arms of the body and to compensate for-the action of the lever and through a U-bracket 2| rigidly centrifugal'force upon the body when steering secured by rivets 22 to an inwardly offset por- 5 otherthan a straight course, by causing the body tion 23 of one of the two longitudinal members to assume a banked position rather than be 24 of the chassis frame E. lowered towards the outer side of a turn with Intermediate their ends, pins 25 and 26 pass the consequent tendency of displacing the occuthrough the arms of the respective levers l0 pants laterally on their seats. g and H and through sleeves 21 and 28 disposed so Another-object of the invention is to provide diametrically on cup-shap d head 29 nd 20 a novelspring suspension mechanism which can respectively, between w c is i erposed a main be adapted with equal 'efiiciency to both torque 0011 Spring I tube and Hotchkiss drive types of running gears. The pm I which piv al y connects the levers With these and other objects in view, the inlo and II passes thro h the diametric sleeve 25 ventionconsists in the novel arrangement and 32 Of a R- fi heed A CO-Ope in 25 functioning of elements as set forth in the folcup-shaped head 34 s-p v t v co ted by a lowing specification and appended claims. P 35 brackets 35 d y ed Spac d n th accompanying d apart transverse members 38-38 rigidly con- Figure 1 is a plan viewpartly broken away, meeting the longitudinal m rs 24 0f 30 d showing one for of pring suspension frame F at the offset portions 23. An auxiliary 3o UNITED, STATES PATENT OFFICE mechanism embodying this inventionf Centering Spring 39 i t rpo ed b tween Figure 2 is a vertical transverse sectional view the heads 33 and 34 and is considerably lighter taken on t e e 2' .2' f Figure 1 and more flexible than the main spring 3|.

For the'purpose of illustration, the invention h Operation of 'P invention is as follows: 35 is shown associated with the rear axleA of .an W1th e two umtS d U arranged as 35 automobile and comprises two identical spring Show? m the lever Systems of the suspension unitsv U and disposed in right spectiveumts extend transversely of thechassis and left hand relationship and supporting the a the fentermg Sprmgs 39 W are chassis frame F to which the usual body (not q to i at opposlte slfies of the shown) is adapted to be rigidly secured to form longltudmal center lme of chasm a p thereof as will be understood v Should the wheel ll strike a bump, for ex- A detailed description of one of the two units 2 5 ii i gfi fi delivel-ed will therefore suflice and. to distinguish like 1 a y o vel-r ma y lspose Pen ermg pars of the mints no each other the numerals spring 39 which it will be remembered is located 4 near the center line 'of the floating mass. The deslgna'tmg the parts of one umt W111 be centering spring 39 is thus initially compressed vided with exponents.

by the raising of the wheel to absorb the shock ach u COmDIiSGS a p 0 levers H1 and and is aided by the main spring-3| which due to the lever l0 ein comp sed o a P Of arms its greater strength is compressed to a lesser exri id y connected in pa pa a relation by tent, causing relative pivotal movement of the to tie bars l2l2, and the lever ll being composed levers I 0 and II towards each other about the of a pair of arms rigidly connected in spaced pin I4. It will be apparent that the initial comparallel relation by tie bars l3--l3. The arms pressingof the spring 39 causes movement of the r of the lever I0 diverge relatively at one end and levers Ill and II about their pivotal connections receive a pin- M which also passes through the with the axle and chassis, so that the eifect is to 55 minimize the upward movement of the side of the chassis at the wheel I! and to tend to eliminate side jolt of the chassis by translating the latter vertically rather than rotatively or tiltingly. Y

Concurrently with this operation, the springs 3m and 39a of the unit U co-act with the levers Illa and Ila. in supporting the opposite side of the chassis against lowering movement so that the chassis is maintained substantially level. The vehicle is thus very stable, and the jolt resulting from the sudden raising of the wheel is absorbed before reaching the occupants of the vehicle.

Should the wheel ll drop into a rut or hole, the above described operation with respect to the two units is reversed as the springs 3| and 39 co-act with the levers 10 and I I of the unit U in supporting that side of the chassis at the wheel I! while the springs 3la and 39a co-act with the levers Illa and H0, of the .unit U in absorbing the shock so that the chassis will be maintained substantially level and its lowering movement minimized and the chassis translated vertically instead of rotatively or tiltingly.

The mechanism embodying this invention is applicable to both front and rear axles of an automobile, and in a front axle installation permits the use of a rigid axle with the attendant structural safety. In torque tube drive cars, the universal connectors l8 and lBa provide for the arcuate vertical movement 'of the rear axle assembly, and can be dispensed with on Hotch;- kiss drive cars by spreading the levers of the units to a greater extent at their respective pivotal connections with the chassis.

I claim as my invention:

1. A spring suspension mechanism for vehicles comprising two units, each composed of a pair of pivotally connected levers; means for pivotally connecting free portions of the levers of each unit respectively to the chassis frame and axle of a vehicle, so that the levers will be transversely disposed relatively to the frame, and the pivotally connected portions of the pairs of levers will be arranged in confronting relationship; a main spring for each unit operatively interposed between the levers thereof, to urge the chassis frame and axle away fromeach other; and an auxiliary spring for each unit operatively interposed between the levers thereof and the chassis frame at the point of connection of said portions with each other to urge the levers and frame relatively away from each other for coaction with the main spring in yieldingly supporting the frame from the axle.

2. A spring suspension mechanism for vehicles comprising two units each composed of a pair of pivotally connected levers; means for pivotally connecting free portions of the levers of each unit respectively to the chassis frame and axle of a vehicle so that the levers will be transversely disposed relative to the frame, and the pivotally connected portions of the pairs of levers will be arranged in confronting relationship; a main spring for each unit interposed between the levers thereof to normally urge the chassis frame and axle relatively away from each other; and a second spring for each unit interposed between the levers thereof and the chassis frame at the point of pivotal connection of the levers with each other to initially yield to road shocks and to co-act with the levers and first spring in translating the chassis frame vertically a minimum distance in response to the road shock. v

3. In a spring suspension mechanism for vehicles; a pair of levers pivotally connected together at one end; means for pivotally connecting the opposite ends of the respective levers to the-:axle and frame of a vehicle to dispose the levers transversely of the frame; a main spring interposed between the levers to urge the latter relatively away from each other about the axis of their pivotal connection in order to provide a yieldable support for the frame from the axle; ana'uxiliary spring; and means for correlating the auxiliary spring with the frame and with the levers at their pivotal connection to urge the frame and levers away from each other relatively. 4 c

4. In a spring suspension mechanism for vehicles, a pair of levers pivotally connected at one end; meanscfor pivotally connecting the opposite ends of the respective levers to the axle and frame of a vehicle to dispose the levers transversely of the frame; a main springdisposed between the levers intermediate the ends thereof to urge the levers relatively away from each other aboutthe axis of their pivotal con-' nection; an auxiliary spring; and means for operatively associating the auxiliary spring with the levers at their pivotal connection and with the frame adjacent the longitudinal center line thereof to urge'the frame and levers away from each other relatively.

5. A spring suspension mechanism for vehicles comprising two units each composed of a pair of levers pivotally connected at one end; means for pivotally connecting the oppbsite ends of the levers of each .unit to the chassis frame and axle of a vehicle so that the levers will be disposed transversely of the frame with their pivotally connected ends in confronting relationship; a main spring for each unit disposed intermediate the ends of the respectivepairs of levers and correlated therewith to normally urge the chassis frame and axle relatively away from each other; an auxiliary spring foreach unit; and means for operatively associating the 6. A spring suspension mechanism for vehicles comprising a pair of levers pivotally connected together at one end to move vertically relative to each other and provided at their pivotal connection with a tiltable head; a tiltable head adapted to be mounted upon a chassis frame and disposed above the first named head; a coil spring interposed between both heads; a spring interposed between both levers between the ends thereof; means for pivotally connecting the free end of one of the levers to an axle adjacent to theouter end thereof and a universal connector for attaching the free end of the other lever to a chassis frame at the side thereof.

HARRY c. WEAVER. 

